It Is Wood, It Is Stone - Gabriella Burnham
This book reads like a dream. It is an escape elsewhere, discovery and rediscovery, life lived that becomes a dream. Did it really happen? Is memory buffered by soft, hazy clouds? As I realized the story was coming to an end I burst into tears - I wasn’t ready. You won’t be either. Gabriella Burnham writes so beautifully: her prose evokes feelings, thoughts, actions, and places tinged with nostalgia, and makes you want to wrap yourself in the phrases and hold on to them forever.
It Is Wood, It Is Stone is the main character Linda’s story of her year in São Paulo. She follows her husband who has been offered a year long teaching spot in the university there, unsure of if she really wants to be there, if she still wants to be with him. She meets Marta, the maid hired by the university to take care of their apartment, and Celia, an artist who captures her interest and her fantasies. As Linda’s life becomes more unraveled, her need for change and discovery grows, and this brings her closer to both women in ways that she would not have imagined.
I loved how the story is written in the first person narrative, how Linda tells the whole story of her time in Brazil to her husband well after they have returned to the US. He was there physically, but not emotionally, as if they both lived their year together, but very far apart. I just loved reading about Linda’s experiences through her own eyes, as if she were me and I her. I was reminded of myself at times, walking barefoot in the desert in Israel, falling in love and then leaving, knowing I would never see them again.
I also loved how the author weaves so many aspects of Brazil into the narrative: Linda experiences uncomfortable and unfamiliar moments, but also many beautiful, tender, and educational times. I just loved this book!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in return for an honest review.